"Thanks to Thomas and Regina Wrin’s
generous donation of microfilmed early San Francisco newspapers, census
and city directories, patrons can research their Irish American ancestors
that settled in the city as well as over 2,300 early Irish societies that
existed here 1849-1927. Mr. Wrin’s Early San Francisco Newspaper Index (ESFNI)
CD-ROM, available for use at the library, connects the researcher to the
library’s microfilmed newspaper archives. Microfilm readers and printer,
also donated by the Wrins, are available for use at the library. In
addition, the library has microfilms and microfiche of various newspapers
from other California counties, 1840-1860 Massachusetts census, 1861-1863
Boston City Directories, and Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving
at Boston (Mass.) 1848-1891."

The above microfilm
collection is the one used to create our The Wrindex and the Early San
Francisco Newspaper Index CDs.

You can now visit the Patrick J.
Dowling Library in San Francisco, look up a name or an Irish society you
are researching on the ESFNI, note the publication and date of any
mentions in a newspaper, go to the newspaper microfilms, and read and print the article. No tracking down the
source articles in other archives or libraries - the microfilm is right
there for you! Here is a link to the Patrick J. Dowling Library's
web site:
www.irishcentersf.org/library Please note that the library is
open on a limited schedule and you should call before making plans to
visit.

An invaluable
shortcut for researchers of individuals, Irish Societies, or successful
Irish voluntarism in early San Francisco. The Wrindex is an index of early
San Francisco newspapers and other historical publications, referencing over
560,000 names and over 2,300 Irish societies. It can be searched by a
person’s name or a society name; giving the researcher each mention of the
name found, the society concerned, a brief listing of the activity which
generated a mention in a publication, and the name and date of the source
material where the complete article exists.

The Wrindex
database is available in two different formats: The Wrindex CD is for users
who have Access ®
database software already installed on their computer (this version will
optimize your research if you know how to do custom queries in Access), and
the second version, called the Early San Francisco Newspaper Index, is for
users who do not have Access software - it will run on any PC with Windows®
98 or better, and it has been programmed for an easy one-step searching
process. Both versions pull from the same original database. See our
ordering pagefor more info.